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Merlin Athrawes
Merlin Athrawes was the identity Nimue Alban's PICA assumed to deal with the people of Safehold. Physical appearance As a PICA, Nimue Alban possessed the ability to modify her physical appearance, sex, and basic outward attributes at will. Having decided to assume a male role,Upon awakening as a PICA, Alban determined that assumption of a male role would be required, as society on Safehold had devolved back to a patriarchal system. Athrawes manifested as a tall, dark haired man who retained Alban's deep blue eyesBlue eyes had become a rare trait on Safehold and Merlin's were so deep and prominent that they became one of his best known traits. as a personal memento to her former self, who Merlin overall resembled in a "distant relative" fashion. Merlin also possessed highly stylized facial hair in the form of fiercely waxed mustachios and a dagger beard. To adopt a noticeable flaw, Merlin created a long, thin scar on his right cheek. He was recognized as very handsome and imposing. ( ) Throughout his existence Merlin retained the ability to modify his appearance at will. He first performed this feat to become Ahbraim Zhevons, from then on switching guises as the situation required. Zhevons had no official connection to Merlin Athrawes but shared some common "familial" characteristics with Nimue Alban's original appearance and Merlin. ( ) Biography The PICA of Terran Federation Navy officer Nimue Alban awoke in Nimue's Cave some 900 years after the establishment of the colony of Safehold. A recorded message made by her mentor, Pei Kau-yung, informed her of the disastrous war between the "techies" led by Kau-yung's wife Pei Shan-wei and the "angels" led by the treacherous chief administrator Eric Langhorne. This conflict had resulted in Langhorne's attack on the Alexandria Enclave and the murder of Shan-wei and all of her followers. Kau-yung spoke of his impending retaliatory strike using a suicidal vest-pocket nuclear weapon, which he correctly expected to eliminate Langhorne and his inner circle. Though retaining no memory of the death of the real Nimue Alban, a final sacrifice which had allowed Shan-wei to smuggle "him" to Safehold, the PICA that would become Merlin Athrawes now knew "his" great task: to restore the true history and technology of the Terran Federation and prepare civilization on Safehold for the inevitable re-encouter with the alien race that had murdered it: the Gbaba. To do this, Merlin had to destroy the Church of God Awaiting, Langhorne's legacy and "societal matrix" designed, in Langhorne's short sighted vision, to forever prevent rediscovery by the Gbaba with an iron-fisted, false religious prohibition of technological advancement. Merlin awoke to a radically different world, where the Church of God Awaiting's influence was absolute and the source of power for all of the nation-states that had manifested on Safehold since its founding. Using the advanced technology left at his disposal by Kau-yung and Shan-wei, he conducted a general reconnaissance of the world and determined that, due to the genuine devout faith of Safehold's people, simply destroying the Temple of God at the Church's capitol in Zion and proclaiming the truth would only provoke mass chaos and war. Instead, he adopted a “virus” strategy, where he would gradually introduce change into one area and prompt the spread of new ideas and technology that would undermine the Church from within. Arrival in Charis After careful study of the political situation on Safehold, Merlin chose the Kingdom of Charis, led by King Haarahld VII as the best candidate for sponsorship. Relative to the rest of Safehold, Charis was prosperous and progressive, and also locked in a long term adversarial relationship with the Church's corrupt ecclesiastic leadership. Merlin also detected an imminent plot on the life of Crown Prince Cayleb organized by Charis' enemies in Emerald and a secret domestic foe. He then sailed to Charis aboard the merchant ship Wave Daughter. As Prince Cayleb participated in a hunting expedition targeting a slash lizard that had habitually begun attacking humans, he was attacked by a team of assassins hired by Prince Nahrmahn of Emerald. Though Cayleb and his Marine bodyguards fought valiantly, the bodyguards were killed to a man and Cayleb's death seemed nigh. At that point, a mysterious stranger attacked the party of assassins from the rear and systematically killed all but one of them. Introducing himself as Merlin Athrawes, the heroic stranger, though treated with suspicion by the sole survivor of Cayleb's bodyguards, offered his services to Cayleb. The Tirion Crisis Returning to the Royal Palace in Tellesberg, Merlin presented himself to King Haarahld, explaining that he believed himself gifted with some of the abilities traditionally ascribed to the seijin, divinely empowered warriors of Safeholdian fable. King Haarahld rewarded Merlin with a commission in the Royal Guard and assignment as Prince Cayleb's personal protector. Privately, Merlin began providing information, via his seijin visions, to Charisian intelligence, led by Baron Wave Thunder. Merlin then disclosed the identity of the most significant of these threats: Kahlvyn Ahrmahk, Duke of Tirion, and cousin of the king. Earl Gray Harbor, First Councillor of Charis, father to Tirion's wife, reacted with hostility and fear, as he held his son-in-law in very high regard. Though Wave Thunder, having been convinced of Merlin's reliability through the massive counterintelligence advantage he had provided up to that point, suggested that the claim be investigated fully, Gray Harbor rejected the notion, questioned Merlin, and stormed out of their meeting. Overcome with fear over what the accusation could mean, Gray Harbor went to the Duke's estate and confronted him. The Duke, who was indeed a traitor plotting to steal the throne from King Haarahld, attempted to kidnap the Earl. Having observed the unfolding of events with his “visions,” Merlin then arrived just as Tirion had ordered a detachment of trusted men to arrest Gray Harbor. Releasing the limitations that he had imposed on his mechanical body to prevent the inconvenient witnessing of truly superhuman acts, Merlin quickly killed all of Tirion's men. Tirion attempted to flee, but Gray Harbor, realizing now the full extent of his son-in-law's treason, killed him with a thrown dagger. Knowledge of the events became public the next day. Though King Haarahld was greatly distressed at the treason and death of his beloved cousin, Merlin had now saved his son and neutralized a mortal threat to his throne. ( ) Preparation for War Though he originally selected Charis as his host for purely strategic reasons, Merlin grew to admire the Ahrmahks and their approach to ruling their prosperous Kingdom. He became personal friends with Prince Cayleb, participating in various activities with him, including one awkward nude water polo game which required Merlin to take special precautions to hide his residual female sexuality. Merlin was nearly outed as a supernatural being when he unleashed his full abilities to rescue a group of children from predatory krakens, though Prince Cayleb , who began to accept Merlin's "special" nature, was the only real witness. With permanent trust now established between himself and the government of Charis, Merlin began to introduce several key “innovations” into the Kingdom's military and practical resources. He made arrangements so that he would receive credit for none of the new technologies, to prevent discovery and targeting by Charis' enemies. He prompted massive improvements in efficiency in all sectors of life in the Kingdom with the introduction of concepts such as Arabic numerals and the abacus. More directly, tactical improvements such as new and safer gunpowder, more powerful, more rapidly-firing and accurate cannon, and the Navy's adoption of heavy war galleons in favor of the traditional, lighter and swifter oared galleys conferred massive military advantages. ( ) War Begins The improvements were soon to be needed. The Church, led by the corrupt association of clerics known as the Group of Four, made a final determination that Charis had strayed too far away from “Archangel” Langhorne's vision of faith and traditional rejection of innovation and technology. At the urging of Grand Inquisitor Zhaspahr Clyntahn, the Group of Four decided to destroy Charis. Using a legal fiction in which the Vicars acted in their secular roles as “Knights of the Temple Lands," the Church ordered every naval power on Safehold to band their fleets together under Church command and attack. The plan immediately became known to Merlin. With the unprecedentedly advantageous ability to track the Church fleets, which were composed of the full battle strength of Tarot, Dohlar, Emerald, Chisholm and Corisande divided into two forces, King Haarahld developed a plan to destroy each force in isolation. Merlin, with Prince Cayleb commanding, embarked with a force composed entirely of new war galleons to meet the Tarotsians and Dohlarans off Armageddon Reef. King Haarahld commanded a force to the north, adopting a domestic ruse to convince Church spies that Charis was not aware of the impending attack. The Tarotsian and Dohlaran forces, which were not equipped for such a long range expedition, were encumbered with a great deal of tactical setbacks by the time Cayleb's force located them. Using new rapid-firing cannon broadside tactics that were a complete surprise to the Church fleet in the Battle of Crag Reach and the Battle of Rock Point, Cayleb's fleet annihilated their adversaries with virtually no significant casualties. With the surrender of the “southern” force, and the need to repair the battle damage that his fleet did sustain, Cayleb held position off Armageddon Reef. But, Merlin was aware that the engagement commanded by King Haarahld was not faring as well. King Haarahld had successfully convinced Admiral Duke Black Water of Corisande, in command of the “northern” force, that the new war galleons which Black Water had been made aware of were in his arsenal, prompting Black Water to be cautious. However, the ruse eventually failed, and Black Water began a full attack against Haarahld's outnumbered force of galleys. Realizing the grave danger the King faced, Merlin had a choice to make: use the technology at his disposal to reach and assist Haarahld, or do nothing in fear of discovery of his true nature. As the battle became more pitched, he managed to sneak away from his position with Cayleb's fleet with only Cayleb's knowledge. However, despite personally cutting down dozens of Corisandian boarders (including Admiral Black Water) in the pitched battle that, with Cayleb's timely arrival, was salvaged for a complete Charisian victory, Merlin was unable to reach King Haarahld in time. To Merlin's great distress, the King died in the arms of the last surviving officer of his command about HMS Royal Charis. The Charisians returned home with a complete victory, and Prince Cayleb ascended the throne as King Cayleb II. ( ) Some time later, Merlin advised King Cayleb to facilitate an alliance with the Kingdom of Chisholm by proposing marriage to Queen Sharleyan, and merge their two realms into a new empire. Despite his best efforts, Merlin's true nature was eventually uncovered, although in a favorable way: during a private meeting, Archbishop Maikel Staynair revealed himself to be a member of the Brethren of Saint Zherneau, a secret order which had uncovered irrefutable proof of humanity's true history centuries earlier. King Haarahld had been a member of this group, same as most of his ancestors, and they made it their goal to model Charisian society on the principles of the past, and eventually reveal the truth to the world. Staynair and Merlin decided to inform King Cayleb of the truth as well. The members of the Brethren agreed to keep the amount of people who were aware of the truth as low as possible. Merlin reluctantly agreed to exclude Earl Gray Harbor, and even Queen Sharleyan herself, in order to ensure that the secret of humanity's true history was kept until the people of Safehold were ready for it. Soon after the wedding, Merlin accompanied Emperor Cayleb and a large invasion force to Chisholm, and then on to the League of Corisande. ( ) The Corisande campaign :See Invasion of Corisande for more details. After the Grand Duchy of Zebediah was taken without a fight, the invasion force proceeded to Corisande Island and made its landing in the Barony of Dairwyn. At the same time, all Corisandian ports were besieged by the Royal Navy. In the following months, the Corisandian Army was able to hold Talbor Pass, thus keeping the Charisians from reaching Manchyr. Eventually, however, asmall force led by Merlin managed to sneak up in the defenders' back and the line of defense broke down; General Koryn Gahrvai had to surrender. All remaining Corisandian forces fell back to Manchyr, and Cayleb's army soon laid siege to the city. ( ) Ambush at Saint Agtha's Meanwhile, Empress Sharleyan visited the remote Convent of Saint Agtha in Charis. Once there, she and her guardsmen were ambushed by a group of treacherous Temple Loyalists. Merlin learned of the attack from Owl and proceeded to Saint Agtha's aboard a recon skimmer at maximum speed. The Empress' guardsmen were killed one by one, but managed to keep Sharleyan alive until Merlin arrived. The seijin unleashed the full power of his PICA body, slaughtering the Temple Loyalists along with Bishop Mylz, leaving no survivors behind to speak of what they witnessed. Sharleyan and Edwyrd Seahamper were shocked to see Merlin, whom they knew to be in Corisande with Cayleb. Subsequently, the secret of Nimue Alban was revealed to both of them, and they met with Cayleb, whom Merlin brought back to Tellesberg aboard the recon skimmer. Merlin then gave them a couple of communicators, so that they could speak to each other after the Emperor's return to Corisande. Some time later, Prince Hektor of Corisande was assassinated, and the League surrendered to the Charisian Empire. ( ) The Holy War begins Some time after the Imperial family's departure, Father Tymahn Hahskans, a Reformist Corisandian priest who had preached against the Group of Four, was brutally murdered in Manchyr. Merlin, angered over his inability to protect him, gave General Gahrvai the necessary hints to find and arrest the killers, exposing their secret headquarters in a Schuelerite monastery. The priests were sentenced to death for torture and murder. Meanwhile, Merlin discovered that the Inquisition in Zion was about to move against the Circle, a secret Reformist movement within the Church. He created an alternate identiy for his PICA, another seijin named Ahbraim Zhevons, to make contact with Ahnzhelyk Phonda and organize the safe travel of the Reformists and their families to Charis. Realizing the advantages, Merlin began to create his own mytholgy of the seijin, which gave him an excuse to appear all over the world under slightly different identities. After Grand Vicar Erek XVII finally declared Holy War on Charis, Merlin had Owl track a number of fleet movements in enemy territory, and also gave Lord Anvil Rock and his son the neccessary information to uncover the "Northern Conspiracy", a secret plan by a number of Northern-Corisandian nobles to take back Corisande. Some time later, Merlin and Owl were fooled by an enemy ruse to make Charis send the bulk of its fleet to defend Chisholm and Corisande, while the Temple fleet did in fact sail east, looking to join forces with the Desnairan fleet holed up in the Gulf of Jahras. Merlin's SNARCs found the real position of the enemy fleet too late, when most of the Charis fleet was already a month away from the Strait of Tarot. A small fleet of galleons was mustered at the last minute, ten of them armed with new explosive shells. With cunning and the element of surprise, High Admiral Lock Island was able to defeat the northern force in the middle of the night, but at the cost of his own life. Merlin later comforted a dismayed Cayleb, telling him that, like all those serving under him, Lock Island acted out of an extraordinary sense of duty for his people. ( ) Character Even though he became physically a male, Merlin retained most of Nimue's character traits, including her sexual attraction to men, which proved a bit of a problem in his new environment. ( ) He did, however, engage in sexual relations with women on occasion. ( ) Merlin also began to see himself more as a person of his own, realizing that, as Empress Sharleyan put it, even though he possessed Nimue Alban's memories, he was a being worthy of a soul that was his alone. ( ) References Athrawes, Merlin Athrawes, Merlin Athrawes, Merlin